You've probably heard the story of how Dr. Ott created the first natural daylight illumination when he was trying to grow pumpkin plants indoors? (If not, check out the full story here.) Our lamps still have that natural daylight formula, and you can still grow plants indoors with an OttLite. To prove it, I did this totally unscientific--but fun--project.

Egg Shell Seedling Cup

You can grow just about any kind of seed in an egg shell cup. It's easy to do, and when you're ready to put your plant in the ground outside, or transfer it to a larger pot, you don't have to take it out of the egg shell! The shell will break down and continue to feed your little sproutlet.

What You Needone egg (or more)
seeds
soil
water
a sunny window...or an OttLite

First, you'll need to crack your egg and clean the shell. I cracked this egg by tapping the top of it with a spoon, then removed the contents. Rinse the egg shell with water.

Fill the egg shell cup halfway with soil.

Drop in your seeds. I used rye grass because I had some of it on hand.

Cover the seeds with soil.

Place your egg shell cup near a north-facing window, or underneath an OttLite lamp! I put my egg shell cup on my desk at work, underneath my OttLite lamp. I turned off the lamp every night, which saves energy and gave the plants a dormant period each day.

Water your egg shell cup every day.

In just two days, my seeds had begun to sprout.

And in 5 days, my egg shell seedling cup had a lush crop of rye grass!

This is a great project for kids, too. They can draw faces on the egg shells and marvel at the "hair" the egg shell people grow.